Taste Of Your Own Medicine
by Miss Pibbles
Summary: Fed up with Sasuke Uchiha and his player ways, a heartbroken Sakura Haruno becomes hell-bent, going to extreme lengths to give the bastard Uchiha a taste of his own medicine.
1. prologue

**A/N: **Massive thanks to _Skylineee_ for collaborating/beta-ing on this story! I am the oh-so-wonderful beta to her story Ai No Melody! CHECK IT OUT!

* * *

><p><strong><em>Prologue<em>**

* * *

><p>For starters, I would be lying if I said I didn't like Sasuke Uchiha.<p>

It's not everyday that you come across the only female in school, and in the entire town, who is able to turn away from _the_ Sasuke Uchiha; it makes skydiving merely a toddler's task, and having the ability to resist the powerful urge of the deadly demon walking down the halls is quite a feat. In fact, I deserve a freaking prize. Few girls had possessed this unique trait in the beginning, but over time, they were broken down and became so smitten with the egotistical bastard that soon enough, that now, I am probably the only one left who was still able to turn away.

Not only am I smarter than these illogical females who only followed their hearts and not their minds, but I also have the mental capacity and the eyes to see right past the Uchiha that claims the halls and the pretty girls in frilly skirts. He is nothing but a walking tornado of heartbreak and trouble that sucks in its helpless prey faster than they can flick their hair over their shoulder.

But wait, what's _that_, you say? A girl who doesn't like _the_ Sasuke Uchiha?

_Perish the thought!_

… Ha. Excuse me while I find a nice, dark, quiet place to throw up.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

But alas, I didn't always feel the way I feel today toward the Uchiha.

In fact, you may even say that at one point in time, I did like him.

Ahem. _Did._

Like any normal girl with normal hormones and perfect twenty-twenty vision, they would find it damn near impossible to deny that Sasuke is—to put it rather mildly—ridiculously good-looking. He is tall, but not too tall; dark hair, darker than dark eyes, and a body that make girls—and even some of the boys—melt like ice on hot pavement. And not only is Sasuke blessed with a godlike body, he is also incredibly smart—a genius, if you will. He always aces his classes without even trying. Calm, cool and collected—the complete and utter definition of Sasuke Uchiha.

But stop right there.

You must be thinking that such a boy simply cannot exist in the real world. I mean, utterly good-looking _and_ ridiculously smart—boarding on genius? Pfft. You must be thinking that he is either gay, married, or some sort of overdramatized fictional cartoon character, right?

Wrong.

You see, Sasuke Uchiha is nothing but a heartless bastard who screws with girls' feelings and then tosses them aside after he's done, like they are nothing more than some toy. And just when things seem to be looking up for the bastard and his reputation, the same process repeats itself constantly, and I cannot help but feel somewhat utterly disgusted by it. But I'm sure you've probably started thinking that yeah; he's just a player, just like every other douchebag out there, _but so friggin what?_

I'll tell you _what._

It's not everyday that you meet a boy that is able to bring a girl down to her knees with something as simple as a mere _glance_. The brooding, egotistical jackass knew of his god-like power over women, and he sought to abuse it to no end. As to why, to this day, it still escapes me. Sasuke cared little for the damage his actions caused to the opposite sex; as soon as he got what he wanted, you were dumped without so much as a goodbye or "see-ya-round, kiddo". Once a girl is swept up in the devastating storm that is Sasuke Uchiha, there is no escaping without anything less than a broken heart. It was just that simple.

But enough about my 'opinion'; after all, being biased really gets nobody anywhere in life, and I'm sure you'd like some back up to prove what I had just said about the bastard Uchiha is pretty much boarding on true.

So, Sasuke's most recent squeeze was probably his most dramatic yet—which is definitely saying something. Needless to say, she was the epitome of gorgeous; if by gorgeous you mean a mass bimbo of a slut with a huge rack, skinny waist and a face slathered in make-up and extensions that didn't even pass for decent barn-straw for livestock to chew on, then yes, she was 'gorgeous'.

They were together for about four months. Amazing, huh? Well, amazing for the Uchiha, at least. Anyways, every girl in school, and even in the _entire town_, knew of the inevitable fate of his 'girlfriend'—now I use the term 'girlfriend' extremely loosely; giving such girls the title of girlfriend is actually a little too deserving. These girls should be referred to nothing more than a mere fuck-buddy; the Uchiha was too cool and way too proud to actually admit that any of these girls were actually his 'girlfriend'. Anyways, everything would be going impossibly amazing and the girl believes that she sees no end to this, when until one day, out of the blue, she would be dumped.

SHOCKER!

Not really. She would merely be surrounded by her bimbo friends, crying, until dark streaks of thick, black mascara ran down her make-up slathered cheeks.

Nobody was shocked at this though. Usually, according to society, when the hottest guy in school breaks up with his girlfriend, everyone wants to know how, what and why. But at Konoha High, things ran a little differently. This 'tragedy' occurred so often that the only thought that lazily skipped through every girl's mind at this time was something along the lines of which poor girl would end up being Sasuke's next play-toy, and more importantly, how long they would last. No one really sought to compete for the Uchiha's heart—if he actually had one. There were the usual persistent bunch that sickeningly fawned over him, but other than that, it was all just a matter of time.

What disgusted me the most about this whole trollop was the fact that Mr High-and-Mighty himself didn't appear the least phased by _any_ of it. The bastard remained as cool as ever, not even sparing a second glance at the girl he had so rudely dumped after a whirlwind two months of parties, popularity and hot sex.

But this girl didn't give up.

She kept pestering the Uchiha to take her back, claiming that she can change, asking him what she did wrong, that she would do anything to keep him, and blah blah _blah_. This girl was relatively new to town and to my school, so she had no idea how to act after being dumped by the Uchiha. You see, the girls who were relinquished as Sasuke's fuck buddy did cry, as expected, but even _they_ knew better than to claim a second chance from the Uchiha. The girls simple had to move on. It was an unwritten and unspoken rule. But oh, how the bile in my throat gurgles at the mere thought that anyone would want to take back _that_ jerk. But alas, his response was always the same, which was basically calling the girl "annoying" and to leave him alone. Even his closest friends, Naruto, Kiba, Neji and Shikamaru would tell the girl—in much simpler terms—to leave him the fuck alone.

This girl didn't give up and it got to the point where she was so heartbroken and crazy, that she ended up transferring schools.

…Yeah, apparently she loved him _that _much.

And _his_ response?

"Hn. Annoying."

…

_Sickening_, if you ask me.

Over the years, his 'girlfriends' have all been the same; skinny-waisted, big-boobed, make-up slathered bimbos who, little to their knowledge, were walking into their already-sealed fate that promised instant loathing by the female student body and population of Konoha, and guaranteed shattered heart by the relationship's end. Once they were dumped by the Mighty Uchiha, tears were definitely shed, among gossip-fuelled rumours, but by the week's end, everything about his relationship with the girl was forgotten; by both him and the student body.

Just. Like. _That._

But in a few weeks time, Sasuke would have yet another new piece of slutty arm candy wrapped around his stupid finger that only differed from the last hoe by name alone. She would still be the same fake bitch that barely passed for anything remotely decent.

And the ugly process would repeat itself once again.

Anyways, I bet you're wondering what has got me so against the Uchiha. Something so incredibly bad, hurtful, and humiliating must have happened to me for me in order to become so vehemently cynical towards the bastard, right?

I guess you could say that.

Hi, my name is Sakura Haruno, and this is the story of how I played the player.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I hope you guys enjoyed the first of many amazing chapters for Taste Of Your Own Medicine! Please let me know what you think; I love feedback and I read every review and take what everyone has to say into consideration. Please know that this is a collaboration with _Skylineee_, and it would be really cool if you could go read her Sasuke x Sakura story—that I currently beta—called Ai No Melody!

NOTE: and could we please login when we review? I do like to personally thank people for reviewing, and that means I can also answer any questions they might have. And could we post a little more than "gr8, update soon"? I've been an author for two years now and it still sickens me when all I see in a review is to update with no comments about the story what-so-ever. So could we all fix that? :)

Please review :)


	2. first encounter

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter! Much more drama will be in the third chapter. It's currently underway, so it should be up by next week! I will have finished my exams, so I guess there really is no excuse for not updating, right?

A big thank you to _Skylineee_ for beta-ing this chapter for me! I luv choo alot! :)

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter One – First Encounter<em>**

* * *

><p>Let me take you back to the days where all I had to worry about in high school was fitting in and getting good grades, because an explanation is needed in order to fathom how crazy one stupid, spur of the moment idea turned me into the very thing that I loathed. This is a recount of how a sudden burst of impulse charged by nothing but pure hellfire scorn and shattering heartbreak forced a young woman to take matters into her own hands.<p>

I wasn't always one for inflicting unnecessary damage to people, physically or emotionally. Mainly because my life had already dealt out its share of hurt to me by the time I was seventeen, and by going against the very thing that made me who I am was just simply inhumane.

But I really wished I could have told myself that earlier.

So, out of all the places in this twisted story to begin, I feel that the start seems… well… _most_ appropriate, don't you? Let us begin from the day where I had first met the bastard who would inevitably ruin my once perfectly happy, stress-free life.

I had just moved to the town of Konohagakure—Konoha for short—around six months ago. It was a little bigger than my previous town, but I didn't care at the time; change was what I needed and I would be damned if I wasn't going to get it.

My adoptive father, Kakashi Hatake, had moved us both to this town. He had dropped his high-powered, fast lane career to instead adopt a child and move to a quiet town to live a simpler life. At first, I thought life was finally going to give me the break I deserved, because after watching my biological father leave without so much as a goodbye and witnessing my mother drink herself to an early grave, I think it was safe to say that life owed me, right?

Wrong.

After my first couple of months at Konoha High, I had actually made friends. A gorgeous blonde named Ino Yamanaka would soon become my best friend. In the beginning, I was very wary of her. I mean, how could a gorgeous blonde by the likes of Ino ever become my friend, let alone my best friend? I was surely no goddess, but Ino was; baby blue eyes, the shiniest, longest blonde hair I'd ever seen, a flawless complexion and a smokin' hot body to boot. But after helping tutor her in math class for a few weeks, we became fast friends.

And life seemed to get easier.

After another month, I had made more friends named Hinata Hyuuga and Tenten. We were a tight group, and I liked it. I felt secure and safe with these girls. I felt as if I could come to them for anything and everything, and I began to believe that there was absolutely nothing that could go wrong.

Until I saw _him._

Needless to say that only after as little as a week here at Konoha High, I would have had to have been _blind and deaf_ to not notice Sasuke Uchiha. He and I shared Math and Literature together, as well as homeroom. And as time progressed, I could not help my eyes from beginning to wander.

But I was not so naive.

Again, I would have had to be blind and deaf to not see the way Sasuke Uchiha was with girls. I saw the way they clung to him hopelessly, calling out his name, and giggling as he walked by—even melting by the mere thought and sight of him! But to be honest, back at that point in time, I knew I should have just looked away. The tiny, inner voice inside my head was warning me to steer clear of Sasuke, as being involved with him could bring nothing but a tornado of trouble.

But since when did I _ever_ listen to myself?

For the time being, I decided to admire Sasuke from afar. Clinging to that small shred of hope that maybe someday a cool guy by the likes of Sasuke would someday notice me was all the reassurance I needed in order to not let myself go completely insane. I knew, in my heart, that such a guy would never go as far as even saying hello to me, let alone give me the time of day, so I ended up being the plain-jane the girl who watched forlornly from the sidelines while the other prettier girls took to the base and grabbed everyone's attention.

For the life of me, when I think about it today, my reasons for wanting Sasuke to notice me now make me want to throw up. After much thought, I could not deny that it was mainly due to the fact that every girl Sasuke acknowledged and dated was undoubtedly pretty in some way or another, and for a guy like him to notice me, well, it would have made me feel all the more beautiful.

But that was then.

This is now.

And I remember it like it was yesterday.

I, Sakura Haruno, was late to school. Normally, it should not be of any concern to one if they are late to school, but for me, it was a huge, friggin whopper of a deal.

Why?

Because my adoptive father, Kakashi Hatake, just so happened to be the new principal of Konoha High.

_That__'__s _why.

So there I was, running through the halls, skidding around corners, praying that time would just pause for five measly minutes and give me a break. But being out of luck as always, I checked my watch to realize I was not five, not ten, but _twenty friggin minutes late for class_.

Finally reaching my locker, I dumped my bag down and began to fumble with the lock combination with shaky hands. My grunts of impatience and the loud clanging echoed off the empty corridor walls, reiterating my current predicament as not looking good.

All was going swimmingly (sarcasm intended) until I heard someone coming around the corner. I paused like a deer in headlights, balancing my heavy textbooks in one hand, listening to see who was coming. My heart began to race. If it was a teacher, I was surely done for. It would not look good if the principal's daughter was late to school. Kakashi had come to school earlier, and I was forced to take the bus. After missing the first two, I caught the third, and well, yeah, I ended up being late.

But the single sound of one person coming turned into multiple sounds of lots of people coming. Brushing whomever it was going to be aside in my mind, I grabbed the last of my books and prepared to hurry to my class, thinking of a feasible apology to barf out to my teacher.

Before I closed my locker, I realized that one textbook was missing. Grunting loudly in a rather unladylike manner, I jerked open my locker door before it had a chance to lock and began to search for the textbook that seemed to enjoy eluding me in my current predicament.

The voices of the oncoming group drew closer, as well as their footsteps. I tried to ignore them when suddenly my heart flopped and dropped down into the deep pits of my stomach at the sheer recognition of the voices. No matter how hard I wanted to deny it, no matter how much I wanted to believe that my ears were trying to deceive me, I knew it was none other than Sasuke and his posse walking toward me.

_**Brilliant**_, my Inner muttered.

Sucking in a deep breath, I forced myself to calm my erratic movements and attempted to appear as cool, calm and collected as possible in front of Sasuke. As they drew closer, I heard laughing, talking and the squeaking of shoes along the linoleum floors.

Collecting myself, I shifted my books in my arms and proceeded to close my locker, pretending not to notice the incredibly hot guy and his mates walking right by me. After closing my locker and locking it with the padlock, I turned to pull away from my locker when something jerked at my arm, causing me to slam back, creating a sharp rattling sound that—despite my inner's prayers—caused the boys to stop talking as they walked past me.

I still pretended not to notice as I turned to figure out what the hell was going on with my arm. The plan was to maybe look up and say a casual 'hey' or 'sup?' but when I saw what was wrong, I uttered the most loud profanity that ever had the displeasure to crawl up my throat and past my lips and echo throughout the halls.

And oh, how I wished I hadn't.

Inner face-palmed for me.

My arm was caught.

No, correction: my _fucking sleeve_ was caught in my locker.

Cursing under my breath, I tried to jerk my sleeve free. I knew the boys were watching, and I hoped to every god out there that they could not see the blush beginning to dust my cheeks. But when the sleeve refused to give, I gave it one last hard tug—as I was in no mood for anything right now, let alone my sleeve's shenanigans.

All in all, I really wish I could say that my sleeve came free. I wish I could say that I went on my merry way to class without so much as a bruised back a slightly battered ego. But, as you already know, luck is never on my side.

My sleeve never came free, as you probably already have guessed. Instead, it jerked me back even harder, causing me to slam back into the lockers and drop—not one, not two—but _all_ my books. The papers fluttered free and scattered at my feet. The harsh smack rang loudly in sync with my body slamming against the lockers.

And then it went quiet.

Oh so _very_ quiet.

I opened my eyes, despite my inner screaming at me to just keep them closed and pray they just walk away as if nothing ever happened and I could resume my life. I kept my eyes shut for a little while longer, until someone cleared their throat.

Opening my eyes, I saw none other than Sasuke, standing before me, holding out my books.

I blinked a few times. Whoa. Was this really happening? Was _the_ Sasuke Uchiha actually stopping to help _me_ pick up _my_ books?

I actually had to refrain from looking up to see if pigs were flying.

Sasuke was dressed in a cool blue shirt and black jeans. His midnight hair was dishevelled as always, and his complexion was as gorgeously impassive as it always was. He cleared his throat again, impatiently, breaking me from my apparently obvious scan of his body. Desperate to not get onto his 'annoying' list, I reached out to take my books from his hands. I also noticed that his friends were gone—thank God—and the thought of being alone with Sasuke in the corridor made my heart beat all the faster and my cheeks threaten to burn red.

"Thanks," I said meekly as I shifted the books in my hand.

Nodding, Sasuke reached past my shoulder and with one simple, effortless tug, he yanked my damned sleeve free from its cold, metal prison that was my locker door.

"Thanks," I said again.

"Anytime…" his voice trailed off as he bent down and picked up the last book from the floor and turned it around to read the bottom "…Sakura."

I grabbed the book from his hand, and with that, Sasuke turned on his heel, shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away. And as he walked down the hall, he raised his hand up in the air in a simple wave just before he turned the corner.

All the while I walked to class, the feeling of dread for being late was replaced with a warm buzz in my chest, and little to my knowledge, I was completely and utterly infatuated with Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I hope you all enjoyed that! Sorry if it was a little filler-ish, but I needed to write this, you know? Up until this point, it was a partial recollection/concurrent happening of the story, but from chapter three onwards, it will be written as if it is happening concurrently. That's just to give the story a bit of variation in the way it's supposed to be read. So please review and let me know what you guys think! I want to thank everyone who has favourited/alerted/reviewed so far! Next chapter will be up sometime next week! Prepare for some heartbreak and drama!


	3. the beginning

**A/N: **Wow, I got so many hits/alerts/favourites/reviews after that last post! Thank you all so much! Here comes chapter three! Remember, this story will be jumping from current actions to concurrent narrating. So enjoy and review!

**EDIT: **This chapter was edited. More has been added to the end, hence why I took the chapter itself down and reuploaded it, which means that the chapter is longer! Yay!

Also, keep in mind that in this story, Sasuke is a maaaajor player, so he doesn't really have any dark emo-ness, like glaring at people for no reason, or being alone all the time. He is popular, a dirty player, is loved by everyone (for good and bad reasons), has friends, and he is a sickening flirt.

Again, thanks to _Skylineee_ for beta-ing :)

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter Two – Naivety<em>**

* * *

><p>About two weeks had passed since I had first encountered the Uchiha in the corridor, and I couldn't get it out of my mind no matter how hard I tried. I know that I probably just sound like your typical obsessive fangirl or whatever, but when I'm in the same presence as him, I feel warm inside. And when he's not around, I find myself desperately looking around to see if I can spot him in the crowd. Needless to say, I was crushing on the Uchiha.<p>

Hard.

But the fact still remained that I knew a guy like Sasuke was never going to notice someone like me. I mean, he did at first, but my Inner simply believed it was because of my shocking pink hair. Other than that, there was nothing special about me. I didn't have an utterly flawless complexion—everyone gets the odd pimple or freckle here and there. I was at the short end of average height—measuring up to a short 162 cm at my ripe old age of seventeen. My cup size—a 12B—was certainly nothing to brag about. And I mainly dressed for comfort, and not necessarily style, though I wasn't completely fashion retarded—I had Ino to help with that.

So after my encounter with the Uchiha in the corridor two weeks ago, I had decided to get him to notice me. I mean, isn't that what _every_ girl does when she crushes on a guy? But deep down I knew Sasuke was going to be a very difficult challenge. However, I was definitely going to try the 'proper approach' to getting Sasuke to notice me, which would not—and I repeat, _would not_—involve me exposing ridiculous amounts of skin, or stuffing my bra, or slathering my face in make-up, or opening up my legs. Oh, no, no, _no_. I thought long and hard about it, and decided to try a more subtle, but effective approach. My first theory to test was trying to sit next to him in the two classes we shared together.

After working up the courage in front of my mirror that Monday morning, I rummaged through my cupboard to find the cutest top and bottom combo I could find, which turned out to me a navy blue and white horizontally striped elbow-sleeved top and a pair of denim shorts, topped off with white converse shoes. The top was a little well-worn with the blue stripes beginning to fade and the sleeves tattered slightly, and the shorts had a few rips here and there, but overall, it looked pretty okay. The tattered state of my ensemble gave a girly kind of punk/skater look to it—with my petal pink hair and all—and I liked it.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

That day, I scored a lucky break. Sasuke was late to Math class that day, and it just so happened that the only spare seat left in the class was next to me.

…Okay, it probably didn't just-so-happen to end up like that; I had personally made sure that the only seat left available was right next to me. It was up the front. When Ino had protested about me sitting up the front—because apparently nobody _ever_ sat there—I had simply lied and said I had a headache that day and was having trouble focusing from far away. Buying my excuse—simply because she could not be bothered to argue—Ino took her usual seat next to Hinata and Tenten while I was up the front, alone.

And just like clockwork, Sasuke strutted through the door, and the chorus of hushed squeals and whispers erupted from ninety-nine percent of the class. Girls called out to Sasuke and offered him a spot at their already full tables, squishing themselves together to try and make the smallest amount of room for him. My heart began to beat faster when he completely ignored the pathetic fawning lot of girls, stalked right past them, and dumped his books right down next to me.

Inner fainted.

Taking the seat almost soundlessly, Sasuke adjusted himself, laced his fingers together and rested his chin on the edge as he propped his elbows up on the desk, staring at the board as if he had not been late at all. Angry hushed whispers suddenly rose from behind me, but I tuned them out, because who cares about skanky fake-ass bitches when you have the hottest guy in school sitting next to you?

Nobody, that's who.

After a while, the Math teacher, Kurenai—we get to call our teachers by first name at Konoha High—had finished explaining what she had scrawled on the board, everyone prepared to take out their books and begin to work on the assigned problems. Sasuke had gotten straight to work, opening his well organised folder, taking out his book, a pen and a calculator. He then slipped his iPod headphones into both ears and tuned out the world. I knew he was smart, so I didn't see why he had to try so hard. Sasuke could practically ace this class without even trying.

A whole period had passed and I still hadn't said a word to Sasuke. The whispers of death had died down, but I only had one period left before the bell would ring, which meant that if I didn't speak to him soon, I wouldn't be in the same class with him until late Wednesday afternoon, so I had to put my plan of action into action pretty soon.

And I knew exactly how.

It took a shit load of courage and (metaphorical) balls, but slowly, I raised my hand up, plucked the Uchiha's headphone out of his ear and placed it into mine.

Immediately, Sasuke put his pen down and turned to face me. Our eyes met, and I looked away from the obsidian depths, all around the room, listening to what was playing. It was a song by Linkin Park that was finishing, and then it flicked over to a song by Rise Against. I smiled, and returned to my work, mouthing along with the words to the song and bobbing my leg slightly to the fast beat.

Although I didn't show it, my heart was pounding incredibly hard against my chest and I felt as if I was going to pass out from giddiness. I could feel the heat rushing up to my cheeks and it took every ounce of my being to not smile goofily like someone who had just received a cheesy text message. I could feel Sasuke watching me and boring holes into the side of my head, but to my amazement, he didn't take his headphone back. He merely returned to his work, as if nothing had happened.

_**Score one for Team Haruno! Cha!**_ Inner cheered, giving a fist pump.

* * *

><p>A week later, things started to get a little better.<p>

Music played softly through the speakers on my computer. The yellowed light above spilled over every surface in my bedroom, casting shadows over every corner and surface, and over the rumples on my unmade bedspread. A breeze blew in from the window behind me, fluttering my papers on my desk, keeping the room cool in the hot summer night.

I sat at my desk, trying to keep my brain from short circuiting while trying to type a close analysis for Literature class. The computer screen glared at me, while the utterly blank document in Microsoft Word taunted me with its utter blankness. Stacks of papers and folders surrounded me like my own personal giant Great Wall, while my school bag was stuffed to the brim, overflowing with papers from assignments that were to be due very, very soon. I'll be honest with you when I say that I really was trying to focus on my schoolwork, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't distracted.

I was as distracted as a four year old with tin foil.

And Sasuke was my tin foil.

I sighed heavily, my gaze leaving the glaring screen, mountains of homework and overflowing school bag. Swirling around on my desk chair lazily, my gaze flitted over every corner of my room; past my window, over my rumpled bed, across my chest of drawers and then finally back to my cluttered desk. And then, landing on my phone.

A few days ago, I had obtained Sasuke's number from Ino, but was still in Struggletown when it came to finding the courage to text message him. It wasn't that I was afraid, it was just that I had no idea what to text him.

I mean, what does one text to the Uchiha anyways?

"_Hey! What's up?"_

**_Neh, too overdone…_**

"_Hey, baby!"_

**_…Ick, do you really wanna sound desperate, Sakura?_**

"_What's cookin', good lookin'?"_

**_What are you, a dumbass?_**

"_Hello handsome! Care for a chat? ;)"_

…_**No seriously, are you?**_

"_I'm bored, entertain me? :("_

**_Ew…_**

Grumbling at myself and at my Inner, I slouched back into the desk chair and huffed out a sigh. My options seemed to get more ridiculous by the second. My Inner was insulting me on my poor choice of communication, and although the last one seemed ridiculously and oddly tempting, I decided to opt for something a little simpler, and more… 'me'. I suddenly realized that if Sasuke was ever going to reply to my message, it'd have to be of some relevance—preferably a question regarding class or something. Unlocking my iPhone, I opened a new message, added in Sasuke's number, typed my simple message, took a deep breath, and tapped _SEND._

_+ Hey, how's your Literature analysis coming?_

I watched as the message lifted up into the green speech bubble, and the 'sending' bar up top fill and vanish, replacing itself with 'Sasuke'. I stared at the message screen for a few more minutes before deciding to log onto Facebook and procrastinate on there for a while, just until Sasuke replied.

After flickering my gaze between my phone and computer screen for twenty minutes, my phone screen was still black. I had the sudden urge to type another text claiming it to me me, Sakura Haruno, but decided against it on account of that I may come off desperate. And I did not want to come off desperate. If my plan was going to work, I had to quickly develop major patience and be able to resist sending numerous, irrelevant messages that would inevitably give Sasuke the wrong impression of me. I really knew that I was different from the other girls that pursued Sasuke. I wasn't slutty, or stereotypical, for that matter. I was simply me, and me alone. And that maybe once he would see that I'm different, then maybe he would give me a chance. It was extremely foolish to have such a high hope, but hey, you never know, right?

My eyes were firmly glued to my iPhone screen when Kakashi's knocking jolted me out of my—now seemingly frequent—daydreaming.

"Sakura?" he called.

"Yeah?"

"Dinner is ready, come down and help yourself when you feel like it, alright?"

"Yeah, okay, thanks Dad!" I called, and with that, I heard his footsteps trail down the stairs and fade away—much like my hopes of Sasuke replying to my text message.

* * *

><p>And that, my friends, is how I became infatuated with the dastardly Uchiha.<p>

Little to my knowledge, the crush that I had formed on the devil himself had already begun to manifest itself deep within me; a festering growth that would spread to every inch of my body, seeping into my subconscious, making me do things I wish I hadn't, and affecting every decision that would come to pass. It was like a disease, really. It was something that I would have no control of, and would not be able to stop until the bastard himself would shatter it beyond belief.

Now friends, this is the beginning; the initial trigger that unfolds a series of cataclysmic events that would eventually lead to not only the Uchiha's demise, but ultimately, my own as well. Nothing would have prepared me for what I was going to do, or what was going to happen in the coming weeks. The little things would slowly escalate into bigger and deeper things that would impact me in ways that I could never imagine.

The first incident that stood out in my mind was the time the Uchiha and I were attending the same party. An invite to an ice-skate party, to be exact. Now, don't get me wrong, it may sound unbelievably corny, but the only thought that flitted across every girl's mind (the ones that happened to be invited) was that this was going to be an opportunity to not only be in the same room as Sasuke outside of school, but also a chance to skate with the bad boy himself. It was a chance to pull out all of our secret moves that would hopefully get the Uchiha's attention, like, for example, bad-ass skating skills; challenging the Uchiha to a race around the rink; pretending not to know how to skate so that the Uchiha would teach them and, dare I say it, get to hold his hand; and the cream of the crop: falling over, flat on our ass, right next the Uchiha. All in order to catch the main man's attention.

Naturally, every female was one hundred percent aware of this opportunity, but, being females, we are a conniving and clever bunch. Nobody dared to mention said opportunity; we all just hoped and prayed that nobody else was thinking the same thing. Which was stupid, really, because it had to be the most obvious observation in the whole world. The only people who would not have noticed would have been the male population that attended, excluding the devil himself.

Now, during the party, which was a booked out ice-rink, I knew exactly what I was up against: a massive hoard of females, possibly in heat, that would be competing with the glorious honor or skating with Mister High-and-Mighty. It was good knowing the rink was booked out; that way, no outsiders would jeopardize our chances of flirting with Sasuke. So knowing this, I had to approach this as carefully as I could. I had to asses the competition, and more importantly, I had to form a unique strategy that would blow all of the competition out of the water. But as I was assessing my competition, something threw me off guard.

A girl.

A girl I had never seen before.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** There's another chapter! I added this last part at the end to move on ahead with what makes Sakura turn into the bloodthirsty monster that she will become. I hoped you all enjoyed it! Please review and let me know! The next chapter is on it's way!


	4. intruding heartache

**A/N: **Do you what's completely and utterly unfair? Getting an early round offer from one of the best private universities to study architecture because you pass the given exam with flying colours, only to find out that the course is pretty much being discredited and therefore cancelled because the government are a bunch of assholes.

On a lighter note, I hope you all enjoyed that little extra bit at the end of the last chapter! If you haven't read it, please go and do so before reading this chapter!

Beta-d by the lovely Skylineee!

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter Three - Intruding Heartache<em>**

* * *

><p>I would be dubbed a dirty, filthy liar if I said my jealously radar hadn't screeched erratically and exploded off the scales at the sight of that… that… let's call her <em>girl<em> for the time being.

Anyway, my mind had frozen mid-thought, but my Inner was just as raged as I was.

_**Who the heck does she think she is? **_Inner fumed. _**I thought this was a private party! What gives?**_

Not only was I threatened with the prospect of an intruder, but with the very high possibility that this girl was going to pose some very dangerous issues if she were to stay, which was due to the fact that she was still here while the rink was supposed to be booked out.

She was introduced as Karin Nakamura; a new student whom was starting at Konoha High, come Monday. She had long, bright reddish pink hair, brushed neatly on one side and seemingly hacked on the other. Her eyes were akin to the shade of her hair, donned with narrow rimmed glasses perched near the tip of her nose. She wore tight lycra shorts and a lavender long sleeved top that barely covered her midriff, nor her cleavage.

Needless to say, she was a huge threat. Why, you ask?

Because she was exactly Sasuke's type.

After being reluctantly introduced, I flickered my glance over to Sasuke, who was pretty much mentally undressing the new girl like some seedy, perverted, old man. My heart dropped. There was no way I was going to compete with this slut—not that I'd sink as low as to competing with a woman of her certain… type, but you get my point. How was I supposed to compete while wearing cheap leggings and an oversize Adidas jumper?

During the party, I tried not to let the new whore bother me. I insisted that if I were to look like I'm having the most fun without trying to compete for Sasuke's affections, then maybe he'd notice me. I mean, a girl who_ wasn't_ trying to compete for his love? There was no way he'd oversee that.

Right?

Reverse Psychology. Look it up.

Moving right along, I tried to push Sasuke out of my mind, but every time he would skate past, I knew it was futile. I mean, it was bad enough that he had to skate so close to me, but to skate with Karin-whore clutching his bicep like some glompy, obsessed fangirl? I knew he was loving the undivided attention of a new whore; he was lapping it right up. It was inevitable; by exchanging glances with one another, we all knew what was coming next.

Towards the end, blisters began to form on my feet. Sighing rather dejectedly, I leant against the railing near the gate, unclipped by skates, and sat down on one of the benches in the café. Looking at my feet, the angry blisters snarled back at me, and I knew there was no way I was going back out there to skate.

But it didn't matter; the rink was going to be closing in about fifteen minutes anyways. I wouldn't be missing much, that much I knew. I mean, why should I have even bothered in the first place? The minute I laid eyes on Karin, I should've just walked right on out and tried again some other time; maybe when Sasuke was done having his fun with her.

Honestly, I just wished I was prettier. Then maybe Sasuke would notice me. Who knows?

It wasn't long before Ino and Tenten approached me, their faces bright red and flushed from apparently racing each other around the rink over and over.

"Hey!" Ino breathed. It was still evident that she was trying to catch her breath from the most recent race. "The rink closes in ten minutes!" she exclaimed, grabbing my arm. "Come on, Sakura; get your butt out there!"

I shook my head and eased her off me, and showed her my blisters, which were now on the verge of bleeding if I even stepped foot back into that rink.

"Nah, you guys go on ahead," I said. "I don't want to skate with these," I explained, motioning to the angry red sores on my toes and ankles.

"Don't give me that crap!" Ino cajoled, lightly punching my shoulder. "Just skate for the last five minutes with us, please?" my blonde friend begged, batting her long eyelashes.

Uttering a sigh of defeat, I nodded before shooing the two away. Tenten fist pumped while Ino huffed and proceeded to grab Tenten and challenge her to see who could skate the most laps by closing time.

Minutes later, I was slipping my skates back on and heading out onto the ice. It was much quieter, I noticed. People weren't yelling and screaming and laughing as loudly as they were when we had first begun. Pushing through the stinging pain, I shuffled out and upped my pace around the rink.

Keeping my eyes ahead of me, I saw something, or someone, move at the corner of my eye. Probably just another skater, but I glanced sideways anyways. To my utter surprise, it was none other than Sasuke Uchiha lazily skating beside me.

My heart skipped a beat. Not because Sasuke was skating beside me, but at the fact that he was utterly and entirely alone. There was no Karin clutching onto his arm, there was no hoard of squealing girls trying to skate next to him; there were no girls around.

It was just me and Sasuke.

Turning my gaze back in front of me, Inner decided that if I was going to talk to Sasuke anytime during today, then this was it; my window of opportunity would not stay open forever.

"Enjoying yourself?" I asked, not wanting to meet Sasuke's eyes.

I heard Sasuke sigh beside me. "It's not too bad," he replied. "You?"

I smiled lightly to myself and shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. "Yeah, not too bad either."

At this particular moment in time, I could not have been happier. I mean, Sasuke was skating next to me, or his own free will! And we were alone! No fan girls clawing and biting their way to get to the Uchiha; so to speak. In actuality, it was nice. Side by side, but not too close to one another, we flitted around the outer rim of the rink. So far, everything was going smoothly, and Inner suggested I try to get closer.

Which is exactly what I did.

Trying to be as subtle as I could, I manoeuvred closer to Sasuke. Sticking my elbows a little more outward, I gently bumped his shoulder. In doing so, I removed my hands from my pockets and let them fall by my side.

Imagine my shock when I felt Sasuke's hand wrap itself around mine.

That was the first time Sasuke ever made any kind of physical contact with me that wasn't trying to wrestle his headphones back out of my hands, or rummaging through my pencil case for a spare pen. I relished in the moment, only to have it snatched away when Naruto and four others came barreling into us from behind, knocking us all over on our asses.

And then, Sasuke was gone. The rink was closing, and the time had come for us to go home. I knew I should have felt angry or annoyed, but honestly, my mind was still trying to completely wrap itself around the fact that _Sasuke Uchiha's hand was holding mine._

I mean, it was only for about three to five seconds, but it had happened.

As we all piled back onto the bus, my mind was in a whole other place. Bliss was one way to put it. Sheer bliss. I hardly noticed time go by until the bus squealed to a stop in front of Konoha Public Library. Kids piled out of the small double doors and gathered in their usual groups of two and three on the footpath. Taking a seat on the brick outlining of a nearby garden, a small smile crossed my face.

After weeks of playing it ridiculously cool in classes with Sasuke, it seemed at if it was all beginning to pay off. I was willing to live with the small physical gestures, and prayed to every god out there to let this work. Because maybe Sasuke was beginning to change. I decided that he was, but at an incredibly slow pace. Sasuke, of course, wouldn't notice the change until it revealed itself in the biggest way possible: that he no longer felt the need to mindlessly screw around with countless girls' feelings. He would finally start to look for someone to settle down, and knowing that the countless sluts were not an option—as they would only do onto him as he did onto them—so, logically, that left me as the only pleasurable option. I mean, who better to go for than the girl who merely sat next to him in class and stole his headphones on a regular basis?

That, my pretties, is what you call Sakura Logic.

And at times, I wished that I wasn't so god damned stupid and naïve.

So after that _compelling_ revelation about my so-called change-Sasuke-for-the-better logic, I had decided to call my father, Kakashi, to come pick me up. In the mean time, I had decided to say goodbye to everyone. Including Sasuke.

Making my way through the small group, I thanked the hostess and said goodbye to a few others, including Naruto. Scanning through the faces, I was desperate to see Sasuke's. Sakura Logic figured that a nonchalant goodbye would leave him thinking about me, and also about our brief encounter on the ice.

…Leave it to Sakura Logic to lead the way.

Weaving through the scattered groups of teens, I neared the side of the bus. Peering around it as I walked, I saw the dark, familiar spikes of Sasuke's hair. My heart leapt at the sight, and my mouth instantly opened to spout out a casual goodbye.

But all that came out was an assortment of choking noises. Because right there in front of me, was Sasuke and Karin in a heated make-out session behind the bus. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, while his roamed all over her body. Tongues engulfed one another as their heated gasps began to get louder. I swore that if they didn't realize they were in a public place, they would have had sex right then and there on the asphalt.

* * *

><p>Weeks passed.<p>

Karin and Sasuke were the talk of the school, since neither of them even tried to deny the fact that they were so obviously together. They would walk side by side down the halls, Karin clutching onto his arm while Sasuke walked around with that thick air of arrogance he held.

Needless to say, it was disgusting.

Over those weeks, I watched helplessly as Sasuke and Karin never left each other's side. If they weren't at each other's side, I would hear constant stories of Karin and what she and Sasuke did the other day, and what she and Sasuke were going to do tonight, and what Sasuke had planned for the weekend, and blah, blah, blah.

Figures that she had to be in every single one of my classes.

Well, not all of them. Out of the three classes I shared with Sasuke, he and I only had Maths left together. Nowadays, I tried to avoid sitting next to Sasuke, but all attempts failed when Naruto and Kiba were mucking around so much that the teacher had decided to enforce permanent seating arrangements.

Figures that it was on the day I was sitting next to Sasuke.

So yeah, I had to sit next to Sasuke in Math class. I loved it, because the arrangement was permanent, but I hated it at the same time, because I knew he was with Karin, and just sitting next to him burned me from in the inside out. It was hard to not look at that devilishly handsome face, his deep, dark eyes, and his signature smirk. I found it hard to focus on my work, and thus, I began to fail math.

But that didn't really matter, because over the next three days, an interesting development began to form.

It all started during an average afternoon at work. I worked at the smoothie and sandwich bar at the local plaza after school. It was shitty pay, but hey, I was saving up for a new wardrobe and a deposit on my car. Kakashi insisted that I learn the value of a dollar and all that crap. I decided not to argue, because he was over-stressed with work. Despite being a principal, he was also an accountant. Working two jobs was hard.

Anyways, I'm getting off track. So during this boring day at my boring work, I was lazily spinning a smoothie straw between my fingers when I saw somebody that I recognized. Squinting like an old lady who'd lost her glasses, I saw that it was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

But that wasn't what shocked me.

What shocked me was the_ unfamiliar_ girl who was walking beside him. She was short, perky, with a head of long brown hair. She clung to him while Sasuke smirked and moved to grope her. I thought it was supposed to be subtle, but _please_, you could have seen that grope from fifteen thousand miles away. Behind a brick wall. At night.

Anger seethed within me and suppressed the initial shock I felt. Despite my instant hatred of Karin, I could not help but feel sorry for her, because here was her supposéd boyfriend, here, without his supposéd girlfriend. Instead, he was here with somebody I didn't know, groping her and mentally undressing this girl, just like that day back at the ice rink. So, no matter how you looked at it, one thing was for certain.

Sasuke Uchiha was cheating on Karin.

* * *

><p>After that day, two more weeks passed. And every time I was at work, I continued to see Sasuke and that brown haired girl walk around the plaza, eating cheap food and shooting each other looks that read, "I'm going to fuck you stupid tonight, baby."<p>

And one day, Sasuke and this girl came and sat at one of the tables at where I worked. The stall I worked at was set in the middle of the plaza, so we had a three-sixty view of the entire floor. They both took a seat, and Sasuke kept walking while the girl sat down.

Before I knew what was happening, Sasuke Uchiha was standing in front of me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Sakura?" he exclaimed, placing his hands on the white formica counter. "You work here?"

Smiling through the searing anger, I nodded.

"Yeah, I work here. Every day after school," I grit out. "For the last three weeks."

Oblivious to my seething tone and brash actions, Sasuke ordered two smoothies and a sandwich to share with his mistress. Practically shoving his food in his hands, I watched as he strode casually back to the table and began to re-flirt with his new whore.

When I look back on this event, I was glad that the Sakura back then had enough sense to snap out of the trance that Sasuke had her under to see that he was nothing but a disgusting human being; a user and abuser; a good for nothing scumbag; a filthy player.

But no matter how much I said I hated Karin, I knew that no girl deserved to be treated like that.

I wanted to tell Karin of what I had seen, but I knew I couldn't. It would absolutely crush her to hear that not only was Sasuke cheating on her, but she had to hear it from someone that she barely knew! I couldn't being myself to say anything. And when I would see her and Sasuke in the halls together, it sickened me to no end to know that those hands of his were not only roaming and caressing his girlfriend, Karin, but they were also tainted with the stains of another girl.

* * *

><p>Another week passed, and I was at work again. It was a Thursday afternoon, and it was surprisingly quiet. It was good, because I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the night before. The stress of falling behind in Maths was starting to get to me.<p>

Wiping up non-existent stains off of the counter, I looked up to see Sasuke across the way. My eyes instantly sought for his whore, but she was nowhere to be seen. Part of me was glad to see that she was gone, but that part was soon overwhelmed with that fact that not only did Sasuke have an affair, that it seemed that he had gotten away with it too.

I saw Sasuke turn in my general direction, and once his eyes landed on me, he began making his way here. I groaned inwardly; I hoped that a sudden swarm of customers would come and save me, but to no avail. Sasuke strode up to the counters. He was wearing a denim shirt that was rolled up to his elbows and dark blue jeans.

"Sakura," greeted Sasuke.

I fought the urge to scream.

"Sasuke," I replied.

He looked around. "Been busy today?" he asked casually.

"Not really. Pretty quiet today. What brings you here to my nick of the woods?" I looked around. "Where's that brown haired girl?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

Sasuke looked at me. "Ah, Michiko," he said. "She's busy today."

I nodded. "Ah, I see. So how's Karin?" I asked, flashing him a sardonic smile.

"I'm meeting her later on," he replied, seemingly catching on to my hints.

I nodded again. "Sounds like fun," I bit out, returning to my endeavour to rid the counter of invisible stains.

"So you're not busy?" Sasuke asked.

I looked at him. "Do you _see_ anyone around?" I growled.

Sasuke laughed and brushed off my tone as someone who was just getting grumpy because they were tired of being at work. "I guess not," he replied. "So, since you're not busy, Sakura, how about we grab a smoothie? You won't get into any trouble if you take off five minutes, right?"

I snapped my head up. Sasuke was standing there, one hand perched on the counter while the fingers of his other hand were placed around the belt slit of his jeans. His bangs fell over his face and framed his cheeks beautifully. His eyes flashed and bore their way into mine.

"Really?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, it's only five minutes, Sakura. You gotta learn to take a risk every once in a while," he replied smoothly. Seeing my face, I guessed he was still not convinced, so he continued. "Tell you what; if you get into trouble, you can blame the whole thing on me."

"Uh, yeah, sure! Why not, it's only five minutes, right?"

…Well, that's what I should have said. I mean, that's what I wanted to say. But instead, I declined his offer.

"Suit yourself," he said, shrugging. He turned to leave, but stopped short. "Hey, I'm having a party this weekend at my place; more of a small gathering of sorts. You should come."

And with that, Sasuke left.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I hope you loved that! I got SO many reviews from the last chapter and we have now hit 40! Thank you all so much, and an even bigger thank you in advance to those who review this new chapter! Don't hesitate to state what you think of this story, because I really do enjoy what you all have to say. Honestly, every time I update a chapter, my phone is strapped to my ass and I end up checking my stats every three minutes to see if anyone has reviewed (ah, the joys of being between highschool and university). Some have been kind enough to review deeply and thoughtfully, and for those reviews, I am even more thankful for!

On another note, I bought (meaning they arrived in the post today) manga drawing pencils/makers and a book on how to draw manga! So over the next few days, and coming weeks, I will be drawing and posting it on DeviantArt! So for those who wish to look at my work, my screen name for DA is on my profile!


	5. party time?

**A/N: **I apologize for the late update. Although I don't actually have a set update time like most authors do, it definitely has been a while since. The reason being some rather sad family news prevented me from doing so. I just couldn't bring myself to type this story under the current circumstances, so I apologize if it's not up to standard.

Thanks to _Skylineee_ for beta-ing. This chapter is dedicated to her because her birthday had just passed earlier this March. So make sure you check out all her stories and wish her a happy birthday.

Enjoy.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Four – Party Time?<strong>_

* * *

><p>I cannot believe it.<p>

…_**Did he really just do that?**_ Inner asked cautiously.

My eyes watched on long and hard as Sasuke disappeared in the bustling crowd. The swirling thoughts of how arrogant and filthy Sasuke was for cheating on Karin and getting away with it immediately dissipated while my mind was still trying to register what had just happened. I walked myself through it mentally; I had refused Sasuke's offer to buy me a smoothie, and then he just invites me to his party this weekend?

How the _hell_ does that work?

I huge bubble of excitement welled up inside of me. I mean, when Sakura Logic thought about it, Sasuke must like me in some way, shape or form. Before you disregard me as a complete moron for thinking such nonsense, think about it! Well first, he had offered to buy me a smoothie after work, and when I had refused, he had instead invited me to his party. He knew it wasn't an offer I could pass up so easily.

Needless to say, something was up.

* * *

><p><em>The five of them sat carefree under the shade of the tree. This tree was the closest to the school's boundary line, which meant they were as far away from the school as could be. Wagging classes was something of a rare occurrence when it was all five of them together.<em>

_A faint buzzing sound distracted them._

_The raven haired boy pulled out his phone. Passing a glance at the screen and the name that flashed upon it, he groaned loudly and shoved the device back into his jeans pocket._

"_Heh," the brown haired boy smirked. "Sick of her already, hm?"_

_The questioned boy refused to answer. He would never admit he was right; it was something a man of his bloodline trait and family name that he would never do._

"_So now who's the poor girl you've set your sights on?" the boy asked again._

_Again, the questioned boy refused to answer. Instead, he slightly turned his head away from the rest of the group, which earned a snort of laughter._

"_Correct me if I'm wrong," said another boy, "But it seems as if you've run out of… options."_

_This piqued the interest of the entire group, since the boy that just spoke hardly ever fascinated himself with the raven haired boy's life._

* * *

><p>Nervousness gripped at my chest as we both stood and the forefront of the inevitable.<p>

Standing right before me was the house of Sasuke Uchiha. It was large, modern and rumbling with the sounds of bass, the latest music, and the laughter and voices of all the peers I had come to know at Konoha High.

Through the large display windows of the house, teenagers were scattered all throughout the place, holding those clichéd red cups full of what I assumed to be alcohol, while others danced and ground against one another next to a large set of stereo speakers that boomed and shook the entire house.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ino pass a glance at me.

"Coming?" she asked as she walked up the path to the front door.

"Right behind you," I sighed as I caught up with her.

* * *

><p>"<em>I don't know what you're talking about," the dark haired boy huffed.<em>

_A loud eruption of laughter from the brown haired boy captured the group's attention._

"_I never thought I'd see the day," he cried aloud, folding his arms behind his head and casting his gaze up at the clear blue sky. The rest of the boys raised their eyebrows._

"_See what?" Another one—the blonde—asked, tilting his head to the side._

_The other boy spoke up again. "Well, my dear friends, it seems as if our friend here has finally run out of girls to date," he said with a smirk._

_The group fell silent._

* * *

><p>The bass reverberated through my chest as Ino and I ventured further into the house. I felt the urge to smirk. I was actually here at Sasuke's house! Unbelievable, really. But not only was I here, I was here on Sasuke's request!<p>

Now, all I had to do was find him.

Weaving my way through the crowd, I passed by people I knew from different classes and greeted them as such. Most were already wasted, or on the verge of being so. Kakashi was adamant that I not touch a single drop of alcohol, and judging by the way people were acting, I decided to stay away from it for the time being.

I mean, it wasn't like I'd had alcohol before. When Kakashi would come home from a hard day at work from both being a principal and an accountant, he just needed someone to sit him down and share a glass of wine while he whined about all his troubles. I, of course, would only take a few sips here and there. Ever since my mother drank herself to an early grave, I refused to touch the stuff more than what I wanted to. I'd never said anything to Kakashi, because I knew he needed the stuff to unwind.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tenten and Hinata laughing and talking on a sofa on the lounge. Well, Tenten was doing most of the talking while Hinata simply sat there and laughed when appropriate. She was such a timid girl, and I knew this wasn't her kind of scene, but secretly, I knew she was here for a certain blonde haired boy.

"Sakuraaaaaa!" Tenten squealed. She leapt from the couch, startling Hinata in the process, and glomped onto me with a massive bear hug. I fought the urge to choke; her strong grip wasn't exactly ordinary for a female.

"W-what are you doing here?" she slurred, flashing me a lopsided smile. Seeing the nearly empty cup in her hand, and the other dozen that were scattered around the couch where she was sitting earlier, I knew that she was drunk.

"I'm here to stop you before you do something stupid," I commented, taking the cup out of her hand. "Lay off the drinks for a while, okay, Tennie?"

My friend pouted, but shrugged nonetheless and left the room.

Taking a seat next to Hinata, she seemed to become calmer.

"Sorry for letting her traumatise you," I laughed. Hinata shook her head and twiddled her thumbs.

"It's okay," she mumbled.

"So," I said slyly, leaning back into the soft, plush sofa. "Have you asked him out yet?"

Hinata gave a startled squeak. She turned to me, her face flushed a deep red, and then cocked her head down and continued to twiddle her thumbs.

"I… I…" Hinata was at a loss for words. She was hopelessly in love with Naruto, but being the clueless knucklehead he was, he had absolutely no idea. Safe to say that due to Hinata's taciturn nature, she would remain admiring from afar for just a little while longer.

"Just talk to him, Hinata. He'll never know you like him if you don't say anything."

The dark haired girl beside me uttered a soft sigh. I was about to start more conversation with her when, low and behold, her object of affection was walking toward us.

"Hey! Naruto!" I called out, waving my hand with a slight smirk on my face. I felt Hinata freeze beside me. She would have glared at me, but I knew it was not in her nature to do so.

"Oh, hey Sakura!" Naruto called out. He was wearing light blue jeans and an orange top with a thick black stripe down the left side of the torso. Needless to say, he was definitely cute—good looking even—but not really my type. And I knew Hinata liked him, so he was off limits.

Scooching over and creating a gap between Hinata and I, I patted the spare room between us. Naruto then plopped down in the gap. Since he was a boy, and heavier than Hinata and I, we both sank toward him on the plush sofa.

"Hey, Sakura," said Naruto. "What are you doing here?"

I laughed. "What do you mean what am I doing here? I was invited, silly!"

I could have sworn that Naruto's smile faded slightly. "Oh, really?"

"Uh, yeah, I was. Sasuke invited me," I replied, giving him a questionable look.

Naruto's eyes bored into mine, and we sat there for a moment. His smile had almost faded, and his expression seemed to shift to seriousness. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. I was about to ask what was wrong, when I suddenly felt guilty. I mean, Hinata was sitting right beside her crush, Naruto, and here I was, hogging all the attention of her beloved.

"Well, Naruto, I gotta go, okay?" I said, standing up from the couch. If I was ever going to get Naruto and Hinata together, this was the opportune moment.

"Hey, Sakura, wait, I need to talk—"

"I'll be back in a sec, alright?" I called back to them as I weaved through the crowd of wasted teenagers.

I grinned. My plan had fallen into place. But now, I couldn't worry about that. Now, all I had to worry about was finding the object of _my_ eye. Clearly, he wanted me at this party, and I was determined to find out why.

* * *

><p><em>The raven haired boy turned his gaze toward the heavens. Although he did not want to acknowledge that pompous prick—his friend—that he was indeed right. When looked at it bluntly, it did seem as if all of the 'acceptable' options were invalid; he had either dated them, or fucked them; mostly both. Girls were dangerously clingy once they would have a taste of him—everyone knew it was true, despite how vulgar that analogy sounds.<em>

_As if by fate, all of the boys turned their eyes toward the school grounds. It was lunch time, and all the students were out. From afar, the girls could be distinguished by their short light maroon dresses, and the boys, but their light blue shirts and grey pants._

_Cliques were the structure that held the student body together. The most popular were evident; his group was at the top of the male food chain, while the females were a different aspect. Yes, there were the popular cliques, but there were a few of them; there was no single popular clique. This made their raven-haired boy's options better, but he knew that not all were single._

_Sure, those girls were good looking—fuckable, even—but some did already have boyfriends, and that was a line that he did not cross with women. To have some cockhead come after you because you 'fucked' his girlfriend was a headache that no boy ever needed._

* * *

><p>Logically, the only way to find Sasuke was to look for the horde of fan-girls all crowded around the one place. Didn't matter where, but wherever they were, Sasuke was sure to be there.<p>

Weaving through the clusters of drunken teenagers, Sakura soon found what she was looking for. There was a set up in what appeared to be the lounge room; the speakers were set up on the kitchen bench—which gave way into the lounge. The ever bigger plush couches were pushed aside to make way for a makeshift dancefloor. The current song playing was a heavy remix rendition of Turn Up The Music. A deejay—some guy—bobbed in time to the remix as he turned various knobs to gain different modes of the song. Through the grinding group of females, Sakura spotted Sasuke.

* * *

><p>"<em>What about her?"<em>

_A moment of silence washed over the group as they followed the pointed finger of the brown haired boy. More silence before one spoke, giving some reason as to why that girl was off limits; she had either already been with Sasuke; either as a girlfriend, fuck-buddy or one night stand._

_The lunch hour passed slowly. Every so often, one member of the group would point out a subject, and she would then be judged. It was a sickeningly primitive act, but tradition nonetheless. It was how males worked, really. And it was sad to admit that._

_The 'perfect' guy either didn't exist, or he would hide his ulterior motives or beliefs under a façade that would eventually win over the girl. All men were pretty much the same; there was no denying an accusation like that. All men thought the same way; judge the opposite sex on looks alone at first, and then personality later._

_It wasn't sufficed to say that females worked differently. Although, they were more sensible when it came to a process like this. Personality was an easy aspect to judge; females were particular with what they were looking for. If the personality didn't match their expectations, then they'd leave it. However, for males, the personality was a different matter._

"_Her?"_

_The group turned._

* * *

><p>The bass grew louder as Sakura ventured forward. She was tempted to dance, but she was never one for it. It was hard to tell if you were a good dancer, especially at a party like this. You'd assume that everyone was too drunk to tell, but some people remembered everything, and although drunk, their ability to operate a digital camera did not falter in the slightest.<p>

Looking through the dancing teens, Sasuke was right in the thicket of it, as Sakura had already assumed. He was wearing a dark navy shirt with a sheen to it, and black skinny jeans. The shirt was open, but due to the group of girls, and the movement of Sasuke's body, his rumoured-to-be perfect body escaped her vision. His hands were groped dangerously low on a scantily clad girl whose hips Sakura envied.

A hand clamped onto Sakura's shoulder form behind. Turning, Sakura found out that the hand belonged to a very drunk and ridiculously chipper Ino. Her long blonde hair was out in soft waves. She wore a tight black tube skirt with a white singlet, which accentuated her envious breasts.

"Dance with me!" the blonde shouted over the pounding music.

* * *

><p><em>The silence that fell over the group lasted longer than any of them had intended to.<em>

_Five sets of eyes followed the pointed finger of the brown haired boy. All eyes locked onto a blonde girl sitting on the edge of a table. Her dress was short—which was nothing less than expected. Her smile was indeed a pretty one._

_A soft snort came from the raven haired boy. Nobody bothered to ask what that meant._

_The brown haired boy refused to give up, for he had plans of his own. It didn't take him long to see the next possible option._

"_How about… her?"_

_Gazes simultaneously shifted to the girl next to the blonde._

_Once the blonde haired boy caught a glimpse of who they were all referring to, fury began to simmer down in the pits of his stomach. His hands subconsciously fisted themselves tightly as they each began to express their lewd admiration for her attributes._

_His mind was whirring. The blonde begged silently for the group to dismiss her and move onto the next piece of meat. The aforementioned girl sat beside her busty blonde friend, and they suddenly burst into a fit of laughter; their hair falling over their faces as they rocked back and forth. Brushing their hair aside, both began to tuck into their lunch._

_A chorused "hmm" rang throughout the group. The blonde seethed inwardly. That girl was off limits. She was not the kind of girl that **he** usually dated. **He **dated superficial girls, not down-to-earth and naturally beautiful girls that could make you smile without having to strip down naked._

_Whatever may come, the blonde swore he would not let the likes of **him **get his hands on her._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Well, there you have it. Again, I do apologize for not updating sooner and also if this chapter wasn't up to standard. But if this chapter _was_ up to your standards, then that's fantastic. Review and please wait patiently for the next chapter.

On a side note, I have started a Big Time Rush fanfiction, so please make me happy by reviewing this, and going and checking it out, okay? I promise to be more chipper come next chapter. So please review with your thoughts on this chapter.


End file.
